Canada’s electric vehicle industry: developing an end-to-end value chain

Governments, the private sector, and Canadians are making it clear that a net-zero future is a matter of when, not if. Part of the world’s—and Canada’s 2050—net-zero future can only be achieved with the development of a robust zero-emissions automotive industry. Zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) as a share of total vehicles sales over the past two years has more than tripled. As of 2021, it was 8.2 per cent. In 2016, it was less than one percent. The potential for electric vehicles is clear and growing – and it’s growing rapidly. Canada has a clear and ambitious mandatory target of 100 per cent of light-duty vehicle sales to be ZEVs by 2035. This is one of the federal government initiatives that is creating a friendly and competitive environment for a complete domestic value chain of electric vehicles, from mining the minerals needed for battery production, to auto manufacturing, all the way to your neighbourhood charging station. The federal government recognizes the transformation and economic potential in the automotive industry. Not only does this rapid growth in electric vehicle sales create a significant opportunity for Canada’s automotive industry, but creates an opportunity for new infrastructure, a battery industry, and to expand our critical mineral industry. This will create opportunities for Canadians in virtually every province and territory. International demand for these products is only half of the opportunity in Canada. We must also be able to supply the base materials for this demand. For rare-earth minerals, Canada, including my province of British Columbia, has some of the largest known reserves in the world, estimated at over 14 million tonnes of rare earth oxides. We are rapidly expanding a new battery industry and new investments are proving that. Currently, much of the world’s rare earth minerals are mined in countries with poor environmental standards. This is changing. As with every sector, mining companies are under pressure to ensure they are meeting the highest environmental standards. Just last year, Tesla, pledged a “giant contract” for nickel that can be mined in an environmentally sensitive way. Combining Canada’s significant mining potential, existing industry, and high environmental standards will position us to be a sustainable, safe and reliable leader in critical minerals in the coming years. Electric battery production was the biggest gap for our domestic electric vehicle supply chain, but again, we are delivering on that. Our government has committed to investing close to $10-million over three years to create a Critical Battery Mineral center of excellence and an additional $36-million for a federal research and development to advance critical battery expertise. And last year we started to harvest the fruit of our commitment in developing this sector: StromVolt announced a $300-million manufacturing facility in Quebec that lays the foundation for an end-to-end value chain for electric vehicles. After the batteries comes vehicle manufacturing. Since 2020, there has been a flurry of announcements from the automotive industry to build electric auto parts and vehicles in Canada. Auto part companies including Magna and Dana International as well as auto manufacturers including Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors all announced plans to either retool existing facilities or build new ones for electric parts and vehicles. Our government committed $295-million to Ford’s Oakville Assembly Complex alone. This will secure our existing auto manufacturing industry and promises an expansion for years to come, while helping Canada to reduce its transport emissions and create and maintain good-paying jobs in the auto sector The last segment of the electric vehicle supply chain is electric charging infrastructure, which has been a barrier to individuals and companies investing in electric vehicles. The federal government is delivering investments to ensure Canadians can drive coast-to-coast with electric vehicles. Since 2015, we have invested over $1-billion in making EV more affordable, and in a coast-to-coast network of chargers so Canadians can live and work anywhere while owning an electric vehicle. Most recently, we announced the Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program, investing $280-million over five years, to address the lack of charging and refuelling stations in Canada, and we are well on our way to delivering the 50,000 chargers promised in our 2021 platform Electric vehicles are an important part of Canada’s 2050 net-zero future and low-carbon economy. Developing policy and committing investments that position Canada as a leader in the electric vehicle value chain is at the forefront of Canada’s natural resource and environmental strategy. Ensuring this end-to-end value chain will make the Canadian market more attractive to the international market and make electric vehicles cheaper for Canadians. Liberal MP John Aldag, who represents Cloverdale-Langley City, B.C., currently chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, after chairing the Environment Committee in the 42nd Parliament. Aldag is an environmentalist, before being first elected in 2015, he worked at Parks Canada for 32 years. The Hill Times

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Canada’s electric vehicle industry: developing an end-to-end value chain

Canada is rapidly expanding a new battery industry and new investments are proving that.

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